suggests that regardless of their
funding structure or commercialization strategy, first-launch
companies are generating greater
innovation. This could also be
driven in part by what early-stage funders such as venture
capitalists are willing to invest in.
(Venture funding by therapeutic
area closely mirrors first-time
launch products by therapeutic
area over the last decade.)

Incivek launched in 2011, with
Vertex retaining marketing rights
in the US, and assigning them to
Janssen outside of the US and to
Mitsubishi Tanabe in Japan.

The product was highly differentiated; its new mechanism of action
offered significant improvement
over the standard of care. In fact, it
was designated as a breakthrough
therapy. It launched into a market
of high unmet need and fell into
the “Science Sells” archetype.

Kyprolis® Successfully Bravedthe Market Alone And Garnered$237M in First Year Sales

Onyx Pharmaceuticals developed
Kyprolis and launched it in the US
in 2012, after raising $32.1 million
in an Initial Public Offering (IPO)

in 1996. Other public offerings followed, and the company was later
acquired by Amgen for the $9.7
billion in late 2013.

Kyprolis is indicated for the treatment of multiple myeloma in
patients who have received at least
two prior therapies. There is still
a high rate of relapse in this rare
disease, so there is a high unmet
need in the market, and Kyprolis
was designated as an orphan drug.

However, the product is not very
differentiated, as it is a protea-some inhibitor like Velcade®, and
it received a standard FDA review,
rather than the priority review
typical of orphan drugs. Kyprolis
fits the “Emphasize the Difference”
archetype.